Leeds becoming ‘majorly significant’ city for tech businesses

CBRE has revealed Leeds ranks among the ‘top cities’ in the UK for tech businesses.

The global real estate advisor has released the latest figures from its Creative Regions study, revealing Leeds is a ‘major regional hub for creative industries in Yorkshire’ outside of London.

It is also said to be a major UK tech sector destination and has risen four places, from tenth to sixth position in the new CBRE UK Top 25 rankings.

But what does this mean for Leeds? Alex Hailey, director of CBRE’s Office Agency team in Leeds, explained: “It’s fantastic to see Leeds recognised as a major regional hub… Take up from the tech sector has grown year-on-year in Leeds since the end of the financial crisis and we envisage this growth to continue.

“With 38,900 graduates annually and home to two world class business schools, nine universities and 14 further education colleges, Leeds has the emerging workforce to continue to fuel this growth.

“We’re also seeing changes in building design with a greater emphasis on collaborative working, flexibility and wellbeing to provide the perfect working environments for these tech businesses to flourish.”

The new report provides a fresh update of CBRE’s top 25 UK destinations beyond London for tech businesses.

The new updated ranking shows the ‘significance’ of Leeds as a creative and tech sector location in comparison to other UK cities.

Emma Jackson, associate director of UK Research, concluded: “Evidence shows that, beyond London, a number of regional centres also contain a critical mass of talent necessary to compete successfully in this sector.

“There are many other tempting reasons to draw creative industries businesses to the UK regions such as attractive quality of life and favourable cost of living.

“Indeed, given the growing cost of higher education, and the cost of living in the capital, the large regional centres are increasingly proving a compelling proposition for graduates and employers alike.”